Successful treatment of 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene-induced hamster buccal pouch precancerous lesions by topical 5-aminolevulinic acid-mediated photodynamic therapy

SummaryBackgroundOur previous studies found that topical 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA)-mediated photodynamic therapy (ALA-PDT) with a light dose of 100 J/cm2 is very effective for human oral precancerous lesions.MethodsIn this study, 20 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA)-induced hamster buccal pouch precancerous lesions were treated by topical ALA-PDT with a light dose of either 75 J/cm2 (n = 10) or 100 J/cm2 (n = 10) using a 640-nm light-emitting diode (LED) light to test which light dose could achieve a better clinical outcome.ResultsThe 10 precancerous lesions treated by 75-J ALA-PDT showed complete response in 8 after an average of 3.4 (range, 2–6) treatments and partial response in 2. The 10 precancerous lesions treated by 100-J ALA-PDT demonstrated complete response in 7 after an average of 4.4 (range, 3–6) treatments and partial response in 3. Fisher exact test showed no significant difference in clinical outcome between these two treatment modalities (p = 1.000). One complete-response precancerous lesion in the 75-J ALA-PDT group recurred at the end of 19-week follow-up and another complete response precancerous lesion in the 100-J ALA-PDT group recurred at the end of 16-week follow-up. Both recurrence lesions were treated by the original topical ALA-PDT regimen and demonstrated complete response after 3 PDT treatments. Furthermore, the 5 partial-response precancerous lesions developed into squamous cell carcinomas after 30-week follow-up.ConclusionOur findings indicate that both the 75-J and 100-J topical ALA-PDT treatment modalities are very effective for DMBA-induced hamster buccal pouch precancerous lesions and no significant difference in clinical outcome between these two treatment modalities.